As AI innovation continues to accelerate, the battle is now shaking up the browser landscape and threatening to disrupt long-established digital business models. According to various reports, both OpenAI and Perplexity are close to releasing AI-powered web browsers to challenge a market currently dominated by Google Chrome.
Chrome is crucial for Google’s parent company Alphabet’s ad business because it collects user data, delivers targeted ads, and directs search traffic to Google. Alphabet’s ad business currently makes up nearly three-quarters of its revenue.
AI-powered browsers
OpenAI’s AI-powered browser, codenamed “Aura,” is set to launch in the coming weeks and aims to use artificial intelligence to fundamentally change how consumers browse the web. According to a Reuters report, OpenAI’s browser is designed to keep some user interactions within a ChatGPT-like chat interface, unlike traditional browsers where users click through to websites.
The browser would also allow OpenAI to integrate its AI agent products, such as “Operator,” into the browsing experience. Operator, released earlier this year in preview mode, is powered by a model that allows it to interact with on-screen buttons, menus, and text fields. This means OpenAI’s browser could not only threaten Chrome’s dominance but redefine how users navigate and engage with the web.
Last week, Perplexity AI also launched a Chromium-based AI web browser called “Comet.” It provides access to the Perplexity Assistant from within Comet at any point and enables it to perform tasks on the user’s behalf. Perplexity Assistant is a mobile app-based digital assistant for Android and iOS that launched in January this year.
A Tech Radar report expressed enthusiasm for Comet’s capabilities: “From booking a restaurant reservation with details you provide, or simply browsing the web to compile information on a topic, Comet is a completely new way of spending time online, and I’ve found my first 48 hours to be incredibly eye-opening.”
For now, Comet is only available to a select few who were either lucky enough to be chosen from Comet’s waitlist or subscribers to the new $200 monthly Perplexity Max plan.
Image credit: Robert Way